
THOMAS SLOO, Jr. 

rA"TYPrCAL POLITICIAN OF EARLY ILLINOIS. 



Address before the 

Illinois State Historical Society 

At Its Twelfth Annual Meeting, 

May, 1911. 



By 

ISAAC J. COX, 

University of Cincinnati. 



Reprinted from the Transactions of the Society 
for the year 1911. 



(/I^m^ 




THOMAS SLOO, Jr. 

A TYPICAL POLITICIAN OF EARLY ILLINOIS, 



Address before the 

Illinois State Historical Society 

At Its Twelfth Annual Meeting, 

May, 1911. 



By 

ISAAC J. COX, 

University of Cincinnati. 



Reprinted from the Transactions of the Society 
for the year 1911. 



F S45 



Springfield, III. 

Illinois State Journal Co., State Printers 

19 13 

A^uthor 

T«.'cm) 
MAR 4 1814 



THOMAS SLOO, JE., A TYPICAL POLITICIAN OF EARLY 

ILLINOIS. 



Isaac Joslin Cox, University of Cincinnati. 

In a former volume of the publications of this Society Dr. John F. 
Snyder has given a brief sketch of the career of Thomas Sloo, Jr. under 
the caption, "Forgotten Statesmen of Illinois."^ The only reason for 
adding to this sketch is the fact that it has been my personal pleasure 
to find in the Torrence Collection^ of the Historical and Philosophical 
Society of Ohio a considerable number of hitherto unused letters^ con- 
cerning Mr. Sloo and his ear]y life in Ohio and Illinois. These have 
been edited and will appear in current num.bers of the quarterly issued 
by that society. The present sketch is an attempt to present from these 
letters certain facts of the career of Sloo that bear upon the politics of 
early Illinois. 

While it may seem strange that this material relating to Mr. Sloo 
should be found in an Ohio depository, that fact is but another illustra- 
tion of the interlacing of the history of the whole Mississippi Valley. 
In the westward movement of our population we are familiar with the 
fact that the outlying communities of one generation act as the nurseries 
for more remote communities to be established at later periods. ,In thi^ 
respect certain districts of the upper Ohio Valley, more particularly the 
Blue Grass Eegion, Marietta, and the Miami districts were centers from 
which the outskirts of the Northwest Territory and the lower Mississippi 
Valley were later peopled. Mr. Sloo who was born at Washington, 
Mason County, Kentucky, and who passed his youth and young manhood 
in Cincinnati and about a decade of his more mature years in Illinois, 
before going on to New Orleans where he spent the greater part of his 
life, is a typical illustration of this fact. His parents crossed the moun- 



1 Publication No. S.ofthe Illinois Stafe Historical Librarr/, cr^•^t^imng Transactions of the Illinois State 
Historical Society for the year 1903, pp. 190-210. The sketch of Sloo is found on pp. 201-206. 

2 This collection comprises letters written by and to William Henry Harrison, James Findlay, Thomas 
Sloo, Jr., George PauU Torrence, and others of local celebrity in Cinciimati and vicinity, as well as a 
few from men of national reputation. Seven numbers scattered through Volume I.-VI. of the Quarterly 
issued by the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, contain selections from the letters of the 
Torrence Collection. In addition to the letters the collection comprises the account books of the firm 
of Smith and Findlay, pioneer merchants of Cincinnati, military records of the early Indian campaigns, 
Findlay's accounts as receiver of public monies at Cincinnati, Hamilton Coimty records acquired by 
Torrence, and miscellaneous printed and written documents, broadsides, pubUc acts, etc., etc., such as 
would usually be collected in the course of the long business and political experience of record preserving 
pioneers. The bulk of the letters in the collection is addressed to Findlay. Those addressed to Torrence 
follow in numbers, while there arc a fairly large group addressed to Thomas Sloo, Jr., and a few written 
by him. The presence of the letters addressed to Sloo may be accounted for by the fact that Torrence 
was his brother-in-law, to whom Sloo seems to have sent many of his papers, when he moved to New 
Orleans, about 1830. 



tains when the upper Ohio Valley was still a wilderness and began a 
pioneer existence in Kentucky just as that commonwealth became a 
state in the American Union, Mr. Sloo himself belonged to the first 
generation of native Trans-Allegheny pioneers and came to Illinois 
shortly after statehood was bestowed upon" it. He figured in the stirring 
politics of the period when party lines were east upon a personal basis, 
achieved an honorable position among the leaders of the new State, 
narrowly missed attaining the office of its chief executive, and left his 
impress upon its economic conditions. He then passed on to a distant 
but still connected scene of action where his career was cast in more 
retired personal and business lines with, however, an honorable oppor- 
tunity for leaving his impress upon the community at large. 

Mr. Sloo seems to have taken up his residence in Illinois during the 
spring of 1830, when he was in his thirtieth year. Although a com- 
paratively young man his previous career had been an honorable one in 
his adopted home in Cincinnati. One of the first references to him in 
the Torrence papers bears the date of Dec. 4, 1811, and this letter is 
addressed to him as an inmate of General James Findlay's household.^ 
Although barely of age he seems to have been the confidential secretary 
of Findlay who was not only one of the leading merchants of Cincinnati 
but also Eeceiver of Public Monies for the Land Office and a>high officer 
in the state militia. The relationship that young Sloo bore to him is 
indicated by the fact that Findlay refers to him as his "friend and sheet 
anchor."^ Findlay left his affairs in Sloo's hands while he was absent 
on public business connected with the preparation for the War of 1812, 
and in fact the General and his wife seemed to have adopted him into 
their childless but "friendly family" as they were later by marriage to 
admit him into closer relationship. 

Despite the trust reposed in yonng Sloo he evidently chafed at a con- 
dition of affairs which kept him in Cincinnati while military measures 
were under way in northern Ohio, as a letter to his benefactress states.^ 
"What sensations must be produced in every bosom, that possesses the 
spark of patriotism or thirst for glory in the field of Mars. But fate as 
usual smiles on me but with contempt. She appears to decree in dire 
opposition to fire of youth and feelings of independency— All's Well." 
In the second year of the war Sloo was sent to the east on important 
business for the Miami Exporting Company in connection with trans- 
portation of provisions and specie for the western army.* While absent 
at the seat of government he was offered a commission in the regiment 
of Light Artillery.^ A more important result of this trip seems to be 
indicated in an enthusiastic descrijition of his visit at Mercersburg, Pa. 
The sequel to this visit is his marriage, July 14, 1814, to Miss Harriet 
Irwin, a native of that town and a niece of Mrs. Findlay.® At the con- 
clusion of the war with Great Britain certain of the leading: merchants 



1 p. T. Sohenek to Thomas Sloo, Jr., Dee. 4, 1811, Torrence Papera, Box 20, No. 29. 

2 James Findlay to Mrs. Jane Findlay, Torrence Papers, Box 6, No. S8. Other letters of this same 
date show Sloo's confidential relations with Findlay. 

I Ibid, Box 21, No. 36. 

< A few meagre details of this mission are given in letters of Martin Baum ( Torrence Papers, Box 2. 
Nos. S, 9, 10), of John Armstrong {Ibid, Box 1, No. 14a), of James Taylor (Ibid, Box 26, No. 18), and of 
Sloo, himself (Ibid, Box 21, No. 37, Box 1, No. 14b.). 

5 Sloo evidently did not accept this commission in regular army. 

6 Of. Snyder, lac. cit. p. 202. 



of Cincinnati united to form a company to introduce English goods 
directly into that city by the way of New Orleans. Mr. Sloo, now of 
the firm of Baum and Sloo, and who had recently lost his bride after 
less than a year's marriage, Avas selected to act as the purchasing agent 
of this company in England and spent the next two years in this im- 
portant commission. His own course seems to have been marked by 
great discretion, although the company did not realize their full expecta- 
tions from the project because of unfortunate trading and banking 
conditions prevailing throughout the country.^ 

Eeturning to Cincinnati Sloo became a merchant in that city and also 
received certain other honors. 1818 he became one of the directors of 
the Cincinnati branch of the Second United States Bank, a position 
which brought him into close friendship with the cashier of that institu- 
tion, Gorham A. Worth, from whose letters we gain many of the facts 
of Sloo's history for the next ten years.- The year 1819, however, was 
marked by great financial disaster for nearly every leading citizen of 
Cincinnati. By 1820 the branch of the Second United States Bank, 
familiarly known in the west as the "Monster," had foreclosed mortgages 
upon about half of the property in the business district of Cincinnati. 
This result was brought about by the intensive speculative spirit of the 
people of that city which permitted loose methods in conducting the 
affairs of the bank, as well as by the drastic measures assumed by that 
institution.'^ The correspondence of Worth with Sloo at this period 
throws many an interesting sidelight upon the general financial condi- 
tions of Cincinnati and of the middle w^est. For those directly involved, 
including Sloo, the situation was one of despair.* 

In the latter part of 1819 Sloo was appointed as agent of the Quarter- 
master General's Department for Cincinnati, Newport, and vicinity.^ 
Somewhat earlier in this year he Ynarried his second wife, Miss Eebecca 
Smith Findlay, a niece this time of General James Findlay.® Thus 
he was doubly connected by marriage with those who had been his early 
benefactors. 

The failure of his commercial ventures in Cincinnati caused losses 
which he honorably liquidated in time, although he was long hampered 
by them.'^ His obligations determined Sloo to seek a new career else- 
where. For some years his father had been connected with the United 



> See letters which Sloo bore introducing him to General Jonathan Dayton ( Torrence Papers. Box 14, 
No. 58) and General Aaron Ogden (Ibid, Box22, No. 3), and also instructions written to him while abroad 
(Ibid, Box 11, Nos. 73, 74). One interesting item is a request from General Pike's widow (Ibid, Box 18, 
No. 71, printed in the Quarterltj of the Historical and Philosophical Society, Vol. IV, p. 135) requesting 
him to collect the royalty due'from the English edition of her husband's book. 

2 These letters are contained in the Torrence Papers, Box 29. Nos. 49-66, and cover the years 1S18-1824 
inclusive. They are published, along with others relating to Sloo in Volume VI. of the Quarterli/ 
of the Historical and Philosophical Society. In acknowledging a letter of Sloo Worth writes "It was a 
fine long letter in your usual easy and pleasant style. " 

3Cf. Ibid, and Catterall, Ralph, C. H., The Second Bank of the United States, passim. 

< W'orth's letter of Aug. 2, 1S20, just a few weeks before the Branch of the United States Bank at Cin- 
cinnati was closed, is of special interest. Torrence Papers, Box 29, No. 58. 

5 Ibid, Box 13, No. IS. This was probably the result of Sloo's friendship with Thomas Jesup, then 
Quartermaster-General of the United States Army. 

6 Cf. Snyder, loc cit, p. 202. She was the daughter of John Findlay of Chambersburg, who was at 
one time Congressman from his district, and later postmaster of his town imder Jackson. Cf. Tor- 
rence Papers, passim and the volumes of the Quarterly of the Historical and Philosophical Society of 
Ohio. 

1 This is shown by references in the Torrence Papers as late as 1828. 



6 

States Land Offices at Kaskaskia and Shawneetown, 111.^ He, himself, 
as well as his friends, Worth and Torrence, had speculated heavily in 
western lands in Illinois and in Missouri.^ With his father and 
brothers living in Illinois and with land claims located near Shawnee- 
town and along the lower Ohio, where 'H. L. Webb and Dr. William 
Alexander were attempting to develop a metropolis, it was only natural 
that Sloo should seek to recuperate his fortune in the young but 
thriving State. The process of financial recuperation, however, seems 
to have been a very slow one and Worth's letters show that he, at least, 
had little confidence in the ultimate success of Webb and Alexander's 
projects, or in the character of the men themselves.^ 

With the handicap of business failure in Cincinnati Sloo also brought 
to the new State the prestige of friendship and intimate relation with 
such important men as Findlay, George P. Torrence, his brother-in-law, 
Jacob Burnet, and General William Henry Harrison, Through some of 
these men and his own family connections, he was likewise a protege 
of W. H. Crawford, then Secretary of the Treasury and an aspirant for 
the Presidency. Sloo was thus naturally thrown in with another leading 
Crawfordite, Edward Coles, although he seems to have had intimate 
friends in the party that usually opposed the latter. His friendship for 
Crawford won for him later the enmity of Ninian Edwards, Daniel P. 
Cook, and others who were recognized as active Calhoun men. Despite 
this his prospects for political prominence seemed brighter than his 
financial ones. 

Mr. Sloo seems to have tarried for a time at Shawneetown, where his 
father was already located, and then in 1821 passed further westward 
to locate in the new county of Hamilton, of which he was the first sur- 
veyor. In this capacity he laid out the town of McLeansboro, its county 
seat, which became his residence. In the combined capacity of merchant 
and farmer he speedily became a well known figure in that portion of 
tlie State and deservedly popular.* It was characteristic for the new 
comer to plunge into politics and Sloo had hardly settled in his new 
environs before he received an appeal to take sides in the gubernatorial 
contest then raging. Joseph Phillips wrote to him on Dec. 31, 1831, 
asking him how his section stood with regard to supporting him per- 
sonally. Phillips had every confidence in the ultimate success of the 
canvass which he was then making for Governor upon a pro-slavery 
ticket. In his reply some months later, Sloo frankly tells Phillips that 
he believes that Judge Thomas Browne will get the vote of his county 
and the result shows that he was correct. Judge Browne received 139 



1 Thomas Sloo, Sr., acted as commissioner in 1813 to determine land claims in the Kaskaskia District 
Cf. Private Statutes at Large of the U. S., 1789-1845, p. 120. Later he served as Register of the Land Office 
at Shawneetown, Cf. Official Register of the United States for 1822, p. 49. He was still living in 1827, Cf. 
Torrence Papers, Box 4, No. .56. This information is interesting, for the previous impression, even of 
his descendants, was that Thomas Sloo, Jr. was left an orphan at an early age. Worth mentions in a letter 
of Aug. 2, 1S20 "my sober and sincere and rational friend, your mother" (Ibid. Box 29, No. 58) and Sloo's 
young son, in a schoolboy letter of Mar. 5, 1825 (Box 21, No. 49), refers to both his grandparents, then in 
Illinois. In addition Worth refers (Ibid, Box 29, No. 61) to Sloo's brother Howell, who was associated 
with Henry L. Webb in land speculations and in selling wood to steamboats in southern Illinois; to 

John, of whon no other mention occurs: to James [C], who is mentioned by Snyder (loc cit 206), and [Albert 
Gallatin], who figures so prominently in the Tehuantipee project of the 40's and 50's. 

2 Cf. the letters of Worth as given in Torrence Papers and also/6id, Box 11, No. 62 and Box 25, No. 37. 

3 Cf. Ibid, Nos. 62-65. 

* Snyder, loc cit. p. 203. 



votes in Hamilton County in 1822, while Edward Coles received only 
25 and Joseph Phillips 67. It was this division of pro-slavery votes 
between Browne and Phillips which gave the election to Coles by a 
plurality of 50 votes.^ 

In this same year, 1822, Sloo himself was elected to the Illinois 
Senate as a Eepresentative of Hamilton and Jefferson counties. Shortly 
afterward he received this interesting letter from his friend Worth/ 
now located in New York City: 

"It gives me much pleasure to learn that you have become an im- 
portant spoke in the legislative wheel of your State. Your stump speech 
must have been a good one. I always thought you possessed more natural 
eloquence than many public speakers, yours is not of the loud, the empty 
or declamatory species. But of that gentle persuasive and unsophisti- 
cated character, which is calculated to be felt, and consequently to be 
followed. If soundness of head, integrity of principle, kindness of heart 
and gentleness of temper, are considered of any value, or held in any 
estimation in Illinois you will become a favorite of the people. I pray 
God you may be enabled to settle in a satisfactory manner all your old 
business, and stand from all pecuniary evils, redemmed, regenerated and 
disenthralled." 

Sloo's legislative experience during the following winter may be 
judged from a letter he writes to his brother-in-law Torrence.^ In it 
he says : 

*^e have had a very tedious and unpleasant session, there has been 
nothing but a continued scene of intrigue and electioneering. On the 
9th inst. we had our election for Senator and Chief Justice. Our friend 
, Jesse B. (Thomas) was re-elected on the first ballot, notwithstanding 
every exertion was made to defeat him. His triumph is the greater, as 
he had, a great portion of the big folks against him ; but no matter we 
beat them, and I hope we shall always beat them." 

The extract indicates that Sloo was strongly attached to the party of 
Jesse B. Thomas and that the ''big folks," that is Senator Edwards and 
his party, were openly arraigned against him. Calhoun, then Secretary 
of War and still a candidate for the Presidency, had greatly opposed the 
re-election of Thomas* but in this he was not to realize his wish. This 
result contributed to the famous "A. B. Plot" of the following year 
which lost for Edwards the Mexican mission and his own re-election to 
the Senate. 

More important in view of future developments is his refereTicif' to 
the proposed Illinois-Michigan Canal.^ 

"The most important bill that we now have before the Legislature is 
a bill making an appropriation for internal improvements, and which 
contemplates the location of a canal, from Lake Michigan to the Illinois 
River. It has passed the House of Representatives, and has been twice 
read in the Senate. It is now in the hands of a select committee, and I 
think its fate somewhat doubtful," 



1 Torrence Papers, Box 18, No. 6.S. Cf. also Davidson and Stirvfi, History of Illinois, pp. 300-30'J. 

« Torrence Papers, Box 29, No. 59. 

»md. Box 21, No. 43. 

< Edwards, Ninian W., History of Illinois, pp. 490, 493 and Edwards Papers, pp. 203, 204. 

» See Note 3 supra. 



This bill, however, ultimately passed and gave Sloo a more important 
position in State politics. A board of five commissioners was appointed 
to consider the ways and means of constructing this canal under per- 
mission granted by the Federal Government. Sloo was one of these 
commissioners and at its first meeting was elected president and was the 
moving spirit in their later report advising the construction of the 
canal.^ 

In this same letter Sloo states, in January, 1823, that the convention 
question which involved the issue of slavery in Illinois was very doubtful 
and that there would not be more than one or two votes either way. As 
is well known the one vote necessary in the House was later obtained by 
unseating a member opposed to calling the convention. Sloo's own 
position in regard to this question seems to be doubtful. Dr. Snyder 
states- that he voted for the resolution submitting the convention to 
the people. Letters from his friends,^ however, seem to indicate that 
he was opposed to the introduction of slavery into Illinois, and his son 
assures me that he never owned slaves himself, even when he resided in 
Louisiana; so if he voted for submitting the convention question to the 
people he must have done so for some reason of political expediency and 
not becauvse he favored a system, even of modified slavery for the new 
State of Illinois. 

In the course of the following summer Governor Coles offers Sloo the 
position of Aid-de-Camp to himself as Commander-in-Chief of the State 
militia. After explaining the duties of this office he adds:* "Whether 
you accept this situation or not, you will do me the justice, I trust, to 
lielieve that I derive a sincere pleasure in giving you this small testi- 
mony of that great respect and sincere regard which I have long . 
cherished for you." 

In his reply declining the position because of his many engagements 
Sloo was equally frank and his expression throws some light upon his 
political principles: 

"Believe me, sir, it is with no small degree of regret, that I have to 
decline your polite and friendly offer, but I am one of those old-fashioned 
fellows, who think it improper, for a man to accept of an appointment, 
without a reasonable probability of having it in his power, to perform 
the duties of the station." 

He goes on to explain that his work as canal commissioner and his 
legislative duties at A^andalia would consimie so much of his time that 
he could not be absent from home the additional period necessary to 
review the militia. He closes with cordial expressions of friendship for 
Governor Coles and with an invitation to visit him at his home in 
Hamilton County. 

During this same period his friend Worth kept him busy with sug- 
gestions for looking after his lands in Illinois, paying taxes upon the 



> Torrence Papers, Box 36, No. 14 and also Davidson and Stuve, p. 343. 

« Loc cit, 203. In a letter to the writer Dr. Snyder states that Ex-Governor John Reynolds is his au- 
thority for this statement. 

3 Under date of Aug. 3, 1823, Israel T. Canby ^vrites from Madison, Indiana to Sloo, " You express 
your hostility to the introduction of slavery" [into Illinois] and goes on to elaborate a scheme of modi- 
fled slavery for the state. Torrewe Papers, Box 4, No. 13. Of. also Worth's letter, Ibid, Box 29, No. 65. 

•• Torrence Papers, Box 21, No. 44. 



same, and in other ways effecting the financial redemption of both. In 
the midst of the worst account of these financial worries Worth goes on 
to say:^ 

"But notwithstanding all this, I am in fact and in feeling unchanged. 
My memory is good, honest, and tenacious of its stores. Every benefit 
conferred, every act of kindness, of friendship, or of partiality is regis- 
tered in a firm and durable character, and I stand ready to endorse the 
list. Among the many recorded I always find yours and Mrs. Sloo's 
standing in bold relief; around these names, the lines, obligatory of 
favor, of kindness and of hospitality, appear to thicken at each review. 
I make the confession once for all, and believe me 'tis an honest one." 

He then urges Sloo to support Clay for the Presidency and closes 
with this prophecy : 

"How comes on your Canal ? and how do you stand politically. I 
expect to see you G-overnor of Illinois yet. If you were perfectly free 
from all your old business concerns, you would naturally rise in any 
walk you might choose, either in Church or State." 

The early months of 1824 must certainly have been a stirring time for 
Mr. Sloo. His correspondence shows that be was busied with the affairs 
of the Canal Commission, that he was troubled by his friend Worth 
with many details in regard to the latter's land holdings in Illinois and 
his debt to the Branch Bank, that he took some part, although it does 
not just appear what, in the exceedingly exciting convention campaign 
of this same year, and that he was considerably exercised over the 
apparent failure of Dr. Alexander's land speculations in southern Illi- 
nois. In regard to the Presidency under the date of April 14, 1824, his 
friend Worth writes,^ "You must be a Crawfordite, if I should judge 
from the office you lately held. Pray, will Illinois support that radical 
chief?" Worth states in regard to the situation in his own state, that 
Crawford who seems to "calculate" on New York "reckons without his 
host." He then adds: 

"Some of our political leaders would indeed elevate to the Presidency 
the Devil himself, provided he would make them his prime ministers. 
Eemember, all the intrigues in the union, and all the radicals and 
political Stock Jobbers are for Crawford. I am for Clay, Adams, or 
Jackson in preference. I would vote for Crawford only on one con- 
dition, and that is, that he should pay my debt to the Branch." 

The reference to the federal office which Sloo held is to the position 
as special inspector for the Treasury Department of the land offices in 
Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas.^ Mr. Sloo was indeed a Crawfordite 
and he seems to have remained true to his chief despite the representa- 
tions of his friend. Possibly it was this support of Crawford upon 
which he relied to give him the next political position to which he 
aspired. We have this aspiration chronicled in Worth's letter of June 
19, 1824. He says :* 

"I have before me your aspiring letter of 12 May. It seems your 
ambition is not likely to be satisfied with trifles. Member of the Legis- 



1 Ibid. Box 29, No. 61. 

2 Ibid. Box 29, No. 63. 

3 Ibid. Box 9, No. 48. 

* Ibid. Box 29, No. 64. 



10 

lature, Canal Commissioner, Justice of the Peace, and Agent of the 
Treasury, etc., etc., are mere nothings, we must be Senator of the United 
States ! One of the grand counterpoises to Executive Influence — the 
sanctioning or controlling power of .Official patronage ! Very well — 
go on." 

Mr. Worth does not seem to have a very high opinion of some of 
Sloo's associates, who were his own as well, in certain Illinois specula- 
tions, for he continues: 

"Mr. Webb too (who the Devil won't rise next!) is on the road to 
greatness. Well, I hope it will increase his ability to pay his notes at 
the Branch." 

"Political honors, must I think, be cheap in Illinois, when the Law- 
givers, and the representatives of the Majority of the people, are com- 
posed of such materials as Webb, etc., etc." 

"The Doctor it seems [i. e. Dr. Wm. Alexander] has nearly run his 
race. I am sorry for him but remember, every dog has his day." 

Worth's opinion of Webb was not likely to have any effect upon Sloo 
if we may judge from a letter he received from Mr. Webb himself. The 
missive reads :^ "Received your letter of the 4th of this month 
[September] a few days ago before I left home, and according to your 
request mentioned to the representatives of Union [County] your being 
a candidate for the Senate of the United States. I found that they had 
been apprised of it previously by some of your friends." Mr. Webb's 
letter also shows that in addition to their common legislative experience 
that he and Sloo and the latter's brother, Howell, were interested in 
land and timber speculations in the lower part of Illinois and that Webb 
. advised lenient terms for some of their debtors. Accordingly Worth was 
not more likely to influence Sloo against a possible senatorial supporter 
and business associate like Webb, than he was able to influence him 
against Crawford, his choice for the Presidency. Webb may likewise 
have been a Crawfordite and Sloo must have depended upon the Craw- 
ford influence to assist him in his senatorial aspirations. By this time 
he may have deemed himself the most prominent Crawfordite in the 
State, aside from Coles, who then held the Governor's chair. Worth 
continues : 

"On the subject of your own ambitious views, I doubt not of success. 
As a Senator you would certainly appear to great advantage, you have 
a natural dignity of deportment, and a most senatorial gravity of aspect, 
in short, you were made for a Senator, for one of the sages of the 
present age, for a conscript Father! Then, you have all the necessary 
requisites of wit, and worth, and words, action and utterance. You 
have (I am not in Jest) the eloquence of truth and of nature — of form, 
of sentiment and of feeling — not the noisy eloquence of a demogogue — 
not the oratorical flourish of a declaimer. But the more winning and 
impressive power of mildness of Judgment and gentlemanly deport- 
ment. * * * 



» Ibid. Box 28, No. 26. 



11 

"You will be a favorite at Washington with the honest portion of all 
parties. * * * This is my deliberate opinion." 

In the month of August Mr. Sloo receives a letter from Emanuel J. 
West, one of his associates on the Canal Commission, who urges im- 
mediate preparations for a trip to the north, and adds.^ 

"You have no doubt heard of my defeat and the defeat of the main 
question ; we are beaten easy. I hope you will not fail to be here. We 
have extensive political arrangements to make." 

The reference above is of course to the call for a convention. This 
was defeated by a popular, decisive majority which marked the redemp- 
tion of Illinois from any possible relapse into slavery. Upon this result 
Worth thus expresses himself to Sloo:^ 

"The rejection of a call for a Convention, is however, indicative of 
some good sense, or of great good fortune; for the present period is not 
propitious to the tinkering of Constitutions. The introduction of 
Slavery into your State, though it might operate favorably to the im- 
mediate interests of a few, would be the certain index to its future deg- 
redation, or the positive bar to its future moral, physical, and political 
Importance in the Union." 

This summer was also marked by an important episode which occurred 
in attempting to fill the American mission to Mexico — the so-called 
"A. B. Plot." A controversy had arisen between Edwards and Crawford 
over the affairs of an Illinois bank in which public funds had been de- 
posited. Edwards made certain charges against Crawford which he 
was unable to substantiate. When the details of this transaction became 
known it led to his forced resignation of the appointment as minister to 
Mexico, and elicited the following comment from Worth :^ ^ 

"As for Governor Edwards, he is politically damn'd in the estimation 
of nineteen-twentieths of the people of the United States. His charges, 
however true, were from their nature incapable of that clear and abso- 
lute demonstration as to fact, and that irresistable inference as to mo- 
tive, which could alone sanction their introduction against so high an 
officer of the Government, and on such a fallacious pretence. The result 
•was such as any sensible man would have anticipated. They advanced 
the interests, if not the reputation of his adversary, and covered himself 
with obloquy and disgrace. As the conduct of the representative honours 
or dishonours his Constituents, the State I should suppose would 'feel 
the stain like a wound' and punish its author with merited contempt. 
If therefore you have no more formidable rival for the Senate than 
Edwards, I predict your success. In truth I know of no weight of 
character, of talent or merit, which should induce you to withdraw, or 
to despair of your election." 

In December Edwards did appear as a candidate for re-election 
to the Senate, but he had lost his hold upon the electorate of Illinois and 
the prize passed to another. It was John McLean, however, who filled 



1 Ibid. Box 28, No. 29. 

> /6jd. Box 29, No. 65. , , „ „„ . , ^, ^ t.^ ^ 

'/6td Box 29 No. 65. Benton in his Thirty Years I lew, I., pp. 34-36 is tuifavorabie to Edwards. 

An opposite view is expressed in Edwards, History of Illinois, pp. 135-154 and the Edwards Papers, pp. 

223-231, and by Ford, History of Illinois, pp. 62-64. 



13 

out Edward's unexpired term and who wished to succeed also to the six 
year period following. In this, he too, was doomed to disappointment, 
for in the week following his election to the temporary place, the Illinois 
Legislature selected Elias Kent Kane for full-term Senator. McLean 
and Sloo as well as other aspirants, among whom we may mention John 
Eeynolds, failed to achieve their ambition, but Mr. Sloo received the 
complimentary number of four votes when Kane was elected.^ At 
about this time his friend sent the following from New York:^ 

"How comes on your Senatorial race? I pray God you may succeed. 
I think you will. You were made for a Senator — cut out originally for 
one of the Conscript Fathers of this deliberative realm. * * * 

As soon as I hear of your success, I shall drop my familiarity and 
commence my future epistles with 'Most potent, grave, and reverend 
Seignor." 

That there are compensations even when one wholly misses his 
senatorial aspiration, seems to be shown in an interesting letter which 
John McLean writes to Sloo from Washington, Jan. 16, 1825.^ He 
expresses his mortification at being left out for the long term and be- 
lieves that he has been betrayed by those who pretend to be his friends — 
men who wish to use him by stating that he was reserved to seal the 
triumph of the party by beating Cook for Congress. As McLean says, 
"This kind of soft corn may do to feed children but it is too lite diet 
for men." McLean does not propose to desert the party but he intends 
to expel some men from camp. He seems to feel especially bad over 
his defeat because he fears that this check would cloud his future pros- 
pects. He may have felt his reverse more keenly because of the fact 
that Niles Register* stated that he had been elected for a full term as 
well as the unexpired one. His letter is important not only from the 
personal point of view but because it shows the existence of an embryo 
party organization to which he and Sloo belonged. McLean makes men- 
tion of this in a succeeding letter of Jan. 22, 1825,^ in which he 
expresses himself as pleased that his name had not been used for a 
vacancy in the State Supreme Court: 

"I have no faith in the men who call themselves the party. I mean 
collectively. Old Nic or the Devil could not be more hypocritical or 
false or selfish than some of them." 

In 1825 the Illinois Canal project was beginning to attract notice 
outside the State and Sloo received a number of inquiries with regard 
to the project of connecting Lake Michigan with the Mississippi, and in 
regard to steamboat navigation on the Illinois Eiver. One of these 
inquiries is penned by James Geddes of New York who two years before 
had been considered for the post of engineer of the Canal Commission.^ 
One of the later correspondents in mentioning his canal project and 
personal finances, expresses the belief that in a few years Sloo and his 



1 Snyder loc. cit. p. 203. 

2 Torrence Papers, Box 29, No. 66. 

s Ibid. Box 17, No. 3. See also Appendix A. 

* Vol. XXVII, p. 256. 

'■> Torrence Papers, Box 17, No. 4. See Appendix B. 

« Ibid. Box 9, No. 33. 



13 

friends will be coming from the west in steam carriages on railways 
"at the rate of ten to fourteen miles per hour."^ 

By this time Sloo's prominence in the State seemed to assure him of 
greater future consideration at the hands of its voters. Casual references 
in his correspondence show that from his arrival in Illinois he had 
opposed the faction under the leadership of Edwards. That political 
chief was anxious to recover his political prestige which had suffered so 
greatly in his controversy with Crawford. In connection with this a 
quotation from a letter which Edwards writes to John McLean of Ohio, 
then Postmaster-General, is of considerable interest. Edwards states 
that he does not expect to enter politics again but if he does, no power 
of politicians at home or in the Union can keep him from the Governor- 
ship. He would enter upon his contest, however, only to help Calhoun 
whom he loves and whose friends, he hopes, will do nothing to endanger 
his chances.^ This determination on the part of Edwards is of con- 
siderable interest to us for by this time the opposition faction had 
determined to run Mr. Sloo as its candidate for Governor. We are left 
in doubt as to the various motives which influenced this choice. We may 
surmise, however, that the men who supported Sloo represented a combi- 
nation of former Crawfordites like Coles and some pro-slavery men. 
Jesse B. Thomas, whom Sloo had earlier claimed as his friend and whom 
he had assisted in his second election to the United States Senate, did 
not support him. He, however, secured a considerable element repre- 
senting those who later formed the Jacksonian party in Illinois and 
most of [the] latter group who did not vote for him seemed afterwards 
to regret the fact.^ 

Of course Sloo suffered from inexperience in conducting a campaign 
against such a veteran as Edwards. He had resided less than six years 
in the territory but in respect to brief residence he does not suffer in 
comparison with many of his contemporaries or with such later 
politicians as Douglas. He was a man of extremely simple life and 
tastes, but was not on the plane of Lincoln. He had important family 
connections in Ohio and influential friends throughout the whole north- 
west. His old friend, William Henry Harrison, was just being elected 
to the United States Senate from Ohio and his former employer and 
benefactor, Findlay, had just been sent to Conpress from the first Ohio 
district. As the representative of this group in Illinois, with the Craw- 
ford interest back of him and with business connections in all parts of 
the State, and associated with so important an economic interest as the 
canal, he might reasonably aspire to the highest office within the gift of 
the people of Illinois. His opponent, Edwards, was greatly handicapped 
by his controversy with Crawford ; while Sloo's handicap seems to have 
been the record of his financial failure in Cincinnati, which was the 
chief point of attack urged by his opponent. The result of the election 
in which Edwards won by a small majority, is really a tribute to Sloo 
and by no means an entire victory for Edwards, who was hampered in 
his plans by a hostile Legislature. 



1 Ibid. Box 3, No. 13. 

2 McLean Papers, MSS., Library of Congress. 

3 Tonence Papers, Box 19, No. 22. See also the following quotation from McRobert's letter. 



14 

Edwards came into office on what in modern days we siiould call an 
anti-graft campaign, although his friend John McLean, the Postmaster 
General, thus expresses himself:^ 

"For your success in the late election (although your competitor was 
an old and I believe a sincere friend of mine) I feel a deep interest. It 
has often been referred to by me as triumphant refutation of the scandles 
which had been so extensively circulated against you." 

Edwards now proceeded to bring all sorts of charges of financial irregu- 
larity against his opponents. The net result of the various investiga- 
tions which the Governor set on foot was absolutely nothing. In view 
of the confusion arising through Edward's course, the following quota- 
tion from a letter of Samuel McEoberts to Sloo is of considerable 
interest.? 

"The Session since I have been here, has been a boisterous one. Many 
circumstances with which you are no doubt acquainted, tended to pro- 
duce a spirit of discord. 

We have been expecting to see you here. And I am well assured had 
it fell to your lot to have presided over the State, and many here who 
opposed your election now regret the course they pursued and that you 
had not been elected, the ill feelings and angry passions produced here 
this winter, would never have been heard of. It is a misfortune to 
Illinois that you were not elected. It is in truth a deep misfortune, 
both as it respects the internal harmony and prosperity of the State and 
her character abroad. 

I was in Kentucky in the fall. Many gentlemen there expressed the 
warmest feelings for you, and hoped the Legislature would recognize you 
as Governor. It . was understood there that there was likely to be a 
contest before the General Assembly upon the subject." 

McEoberts was not the only one to voice the feeling of regret at the 
election of Edwards. Ex-Governor Coles wrote from Washington ad- 
vising Sloo to be careful of the political course that he and the former 
Crawfordites took at this time.^ James Hall, one of the victims of 
Edward's judge-breaking law, expressed himself more forcefully.* In 
a second long letter describing political conditions in the State which 
affords an interesting coinparison with those published in the Edwards 
Papers, Hall describes the various combinations which resulted in 
placing Illinois in the Jackson column. He was not much of a political 
prophet if we may judge from the fact that he advised Sloo that Jack- 
son's day was over in Illinois, because of the canal appropriation which 
Cook had secured from Congress. 

More interesting than these expressions of regret was the proposal 
made by Elijah C. Berry that Sloo might technically claim that he still 
exercised the office of Quartermaster General of the State militia and 
refuse to honor Edward's requisitions for certain arms belonging to the 
State. ^ As the request from Edwards followed certain Indian diffi- 
culties which then afflicted the northern part of the State, this attempt 
to gain partisan advantage by hampering the Governor does not 



1 Edwards, History 0} Illinois, p. 147. 

2 See Note 3, p. 36. 

s Torrence Papers, Box 4, No. 56. 

* Torrence Papers, Box 11, Nos. 4, 5. See Appendix C and D. 

5 Torrence Papers, Box 2, No. 26. 



15 

suggest patriotism of a high order. We are pleased to note that Sloo 
definitely and promptly rejected it. He writes: 

"Situated as I am in relation to the present commander in chief 
[i. e. Governor Edwards] had I barely doubts as to the termination of 
my appointment delicacy would forbid my imposing any obstacle to 
interrupt the harmonious administration of his government. Believing 
as I do, that there is at present, no Quartermaster General of the State 
the arms would of course be under the entire control and disposition of 
the Governor." 

With this quotation we may fittingly end the career of Mr. Sloo in 
Illinois. Within a few months he had closed his affairs in that State 
and transferred his family to New Orleans where he began once more 
his career as a merchant and where a large measure of success and honor 
came to him during his succeeding life of nearly half a century. We 
must not regard his leaving Illinois as in any sense a desertion of the 
field of combat in the hour of political defeat. His correspondence 
shows that his prospects for future success in the political arena were 
good and the success obtained by his friends indicates that he might have 
anticipated a like measure of political honors. But the financial bur- 
dens resting upon him since his failure in Cincinnati were not wholly 
liquidated and his public duties undoubtedly prevented him from giving 
the attention to the development of his private affairs that was necessary 
to accomplish this purpose.^ His field of operation in southern Illinois 
was too limited for him and with his business and political associates, 
his previous reputation for probity and good fellowship, he might rea- 
sonably aspire to a larger measure of success in New Orleans, the com- 
mercial emporium of the West. His course does not suffer in comparison 
with other political leaders in Illinois. Joseph Phillips had gone to 
Tennessee after his defeat for the Governorship in 1822. Jesse B. 
Thomas retired to Ohio when he completed his term of service in the 
United States Senate, and even Ninian Edwards planned at one time to 
take up his residence in Texas. 

I have called Mr. Sloo a typical politician of Illinois. He came to 
the State, as did many others, representing certain political influences 
that were making themselves felt in the nation at large. He was young 
and ambitious. He immediately entered public life and aspired to the 
highest situations to be attained therein. He gained a measure of suc- 
cess, followed the personal bent of politics of his period, and eventually 
moved on to another and far different scene of action. In all of these 
respects he is typical of the various groups of politicians that played 
their part in the first decade of Illinois State history. And he has left 
an impression which, thought slight, is worthy of careful commemora- 
tion. It is in the multitude of such impressions that we read the early 
history of the State and its part in that political movement which we 
distinguish by the term "Jacksonian Democracy."^ 

University of Cincinnati, June 15, 1911. 

» Cf. Torrence Papers, Box 3, No. 13; Box 5. No. 46; Box 12, No. 5; Box 27, No. 14. 

2 In the preparation of this paper the writer is under special obligations to Miss L. Belle Hamlin . 
Librarian of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio; to Mrs. Jessie Palmer Weber, Secretary 
of the Illinois State mstorical Society; and to Mr. Thomas Sloo, of New Orleans, and Dr. J. F. Snyder, 
of Virginia, Illinois. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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